Black plastic bag. Christer / Flickr Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly is making a possible ban on single-use plastic bags an open conversation with the Kodiak City Council from the get-go. The borough’s Solid Waste Advisory Board has been working on the ban. SWAB has so far drafted an ordinance, consulted the borough attorney, and sent a representative ... Read More »

Kayla Desroches/KMXT The right of neighbors to give input on private property came up at the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly regular meeting last night. Since last year, the assembly has been working on an ordinance that would permit accessory dwelling units in certain residential districts. ADUs are living areas with their own kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and entrance that are located ... Read More »

An abandoned truck in Kodiak. Photo courtesy of the Kodiak Island Borough Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly conducted a lengthy discussion on the issue of junk cars last week at its work session. Community Development director Sara Mason said the borough used to hold a lottery to remove people’s abandoned cars from their properties. She said the borough ... Read More »

Kayla Desroches/KMXT When a dog gets loose and poses a threat to Kodiak residents, animal control is the service they call. Animal control also covers vaccine enforcement and responds to reports of abuse. The Kodiak Island Borough contracts with the City of Kodiak to provide those services and pays for its part of the agreement. Last week at its regular ... Read More »

Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Borough Lands Committee is scoping out more property to develop in order to open up living situations in the community. The lands committee formed last year sometime after the announcement of the Jackson Mobile Home Park closure, which led to an emphasis on both the lack of availability of land and the high rent prices in Kodiak. ... Read More »

Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Kodiak Island Borough has a new mayor. Assemblyman Dan Rohrer left his assembly seat in order to take over from Jerrol Friend, whose term expired this month and who had served as borough mayor since October 2013. Rohrer ran unopposed at the recent municipal elections and won 1,983 votes. At the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly regular meeting ... Read More »

Kayla Desroches/KMXT Preliminary results came in yesterday for the Kodiak Island Borough and Kodiak City municipal elections. For the two seats of three years on the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly, Scott Smiley won 1079 votes and Matt Van Daele won 1042 votes. They were running against Monique Lewis, who got 685 votes, and there were also 148 write-ins. Smiley, who ... Read More »

Matt VanDaele Matt Van Daele is running for Kodiak Island Borough Assembly and has his eye on Kodiak’s housing situation. Van Daele, who works as Koniag’s Lands and Resources Manager and also sits on the Borough Lands Committee, says the borough needs to work on opening up land in order to jumpstart the economy and revitalize the community. He says ... Read More »

Tuesday night’s candidate forum. The three people in background are (left to right) Monique Lewis, Scott Smiley, and Matt Van Daele. Far left is Trevor Brown from the Chamber of Commerce, and far right is Lindsay Knight. Kayla Desroches/KMXT Kayla Desroches/KMXT Three candidates for the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly participated in a Local Candidate Forum last night. Monique Lewis, Scott ... Read More »